undeadfanstoriesfandomcom-20200214-history
Surviving, Not Living/Issue 29
This is Issue 29 of Surviving, Not Living, entitled Fourfold. This is the fifth issue of Volume 5. Issue 29 - Fourfold Ellie laid helpless on the icy road. Whenever she tried to pull herself up, she slipped and fell back to the ground. With several infected nearing her and the rest rapidly thawing from their frozen stances, the level of threat couldn’t be any higher. The front runner of the herd was less than a few inches away from her. She had to think fast. The blonde turned her head to the right. There was a truck that would’ve provided adequate space for cover, if there hadn’t been a pipe hanging from the vehicle. She looked to the left. There was a small sedan. Beneath the car laid an infected, but a bullet hole in its forehead lead Ellie to believe that it was dead. Time was up. The infected sank to its knees and fell towards the woman. Quickly, she rolled to her left and slid underneath the sedan. After using all her might to push the deceased infected aside, Ellie took its place. The fight wasn’t over yet. The infected had watched her and they too were making their way underneath the sedan. She looked left, right, up, down. There was no escape. She was done for. Ellie gulped. What would happen to Zach now? Once she died, there would be no-one to care for him. The group would just chuck him out on the street and leave him die. If Charlotte didn’t put a bullet in his head first, that is. They should’ve never saved the group. It would’ve been easy for the two of them to run off together – husband and wife. Maybe Zach wouldn’t have even contracted this disease if they hadn’t saved the others, who knows? She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. Flattening it out on her stomach, Ellie looked at it – a photograph. The two were cuddled together, cheek-to-cheek, both laughing. They looked very youthful. She couldn’t help but begin to sob. It had been taken when they were in their late teens, years after his family had taken them in. Her sobs were so loud that it stopped her from hearing the roar of a close-by engine. The infected were close. So close that had to push their arms away. “Get off me! Get away!” The blonde screamed through her sobs. Her ears perked up when they caught the sound of a door slamming. “Ellie!” A friendly voice. Bobby was there. “I’m here! Under the sedan!” She screeched. The woman picked up a shard of glass from the floor. Bobby was nearby but she’d be dead before he reached her, if she didn’t fight too. She rotated the glass in her hand before smashing the pointed end into an infected’s skull. It fell forwards onto the implant, sending it further into it’s skull. Ellie slammed her elbow into the balding head of another infected, the flesh giving way into the gloopy brain. The redness stained her coat. She looked to her left and grabbed forwards to reach an infected’s head. She fastened her hand around it’s skull and slammed it into the floor. There were too many. Bobby had come to save her but there were just too many. She couldn’t fend off a dozen infected. Ellie collapsed to the floor, heavily panting, trying not to think about the monster with gnashing teeth that grew dangerously close to her neck. She closed her eyes and waited. Suddenly, the infected flew out from underneath the car. Eyes snapping open, Ellie looked to see Bobby pulling it by it’s legs. He stomped his boot on the skull of the infected, killing it for the second time. Another infected flew out to her right. Jackie was there too. Ellie could tell it was her by the grunting noise she made as she took out the infected with a screwdriver. “Danny, get the last few. I’ll get Ellie out!” Bobby ordered. Danny! Bobby must’ve had a rather large change of heart to convince both Jackie and Danny to come with him. Or, maybe it was Jackie who had convinced the others to follow her. She made a mental note to ask at a later time. Was anyone else there? Surely not. Charlotte hated her and, if Charlotte wasn’t going, then neither was Ava. Zach definitely wasn’t there – he couldn’t walk in his current state. She didn’t expect Amelia or Vicky to be there. Ellie had gotten bad vibes from them two girls ever since they searched the garage together. Danny grabbed two of the remaining infected – one leg belonging to each in either arm. He yanked them out from underneath the vehicle and jumped forwards, legs spread open. Simultaneously, the two infected’s skull gave way. The young man panted heavily. He had only taken down a few infected but he was already exhausted. The plumbing problems back at the school had really taken a toll on him. Jackie ended up taking the last infected out of the picture, piercing it’s brain with a screwdriver. Reaching underneath the car, Bobby held his arm out to Ellie. She accepted the gesture and pulled herself out. The first thing she noticed was Bobby’s dry lips. “I can’t thank you enough.” Ellie said, exhaling deeply and shaking her head. “Save it.” Bobby told her, warm breath clouding the cold area around his mouth. “Let’s just get to the library and back before anyone even notices that we’re gone.” “The group aren’t stupid.” Danny called from across the road. “Yeah,” Jackie agreed. “I bet they’ve already noticed that we’ve gone. I’d notice if someone I was sleeping with crept out of bed early.” “Well then…” Bobby sighed, frustrated. “Let’s get a move on. Everyone in the van!” ______________________________________________________________________________ The truck sped along the Georgian streets. The first leg of the journey had been a struggle – passing through the jam-packed car-cluttered highway – but it was now clear road as far as the eye could see. Jackie sat in the driver’s seat, not really paying attention. She rested her knees on the steering wheel and only turned it every few minutes or so when the road seemed to change its angle slightly. Ellie sat beside her in the passenger seat. She her feet up on the dashboard and the map spread across her legs. Bobby and Danny resided in the back. The former felt uncomfortable with a gun by his side, especially because he was venturing into unexplored land. But, there wasn’t much he could do about it. The group only had three gun – all handguns. The first was a pistol that Ava had found underneath her bed. Charlotte had taken owner ship of that one and currently slept with it underneath her pillow. The second gun was Zach’s – no-one had been brave enough to retrieve the gun from his bedroom, in fear of catching the mysterious illness that he was suffering from. The final gun was Bobby’s but he’d foolishly left it in Amelia’s bedroom. Sometimes he’d sleep in the same room with her, on the other single bed, but the previous night he’d decided to sleep in a double bed with Vicky. Danny scoffed, “Why are we letting the girls ''drive?” Bobby didn’t reply. “There’s a reason ‘you’re driving like a girl’ is an insult.” “Don’t be sexist. Your dad didn’t raise you to be like that.” Bobby spoke up. “My dad didn’t raise me to be like that?” Danny spat, repeating what he had just heard. “You don’t know shit about how my dad raised me! You knew him for two months and, in that time, I never felt that you liked him.” “Are you serious?” Bobby turned to face the other man, a look of annoyance plastered on his face. “You’re referring to the argument we had, aren’t you, before the supply run? If I remember rightly, which I do, your father stood up from his seat and tried to intimidate me after I told him that he was too old to leave the school with us. And y’know what? He was too old.” “Just shut up. Shut up. I shouldn’t have even came out with you.” Danny clenched his fists. “Don’t start the fire if you can’t take the burn.” “What’s going on back there?” Jackie hollered, obviously overhearing their conversation. “It’s nothing.” Bobby sighed. “Look, Danny, I’m sorry. I’m just a little bit on edge, like everyone else. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you came.” Danny nodded, either out of understanding or trying to bring the conversation to a close. ______________________________________________________________________________ Bright rays of sun broke through the cracks in Amelia’s curtains. She groaned to herself, turning over in her bed. Soon enough, her eyes fluttered open. Twenty years of early mornings and she still wasn’t used to it. After pulling on a faded yellow t-shirt and brown khakis, she exited her room and made her way down the corridor and into the dining area. She stopped in her tracks. Something was wrong. Bobby wasn’t there. He wasn’t already wide awake, throwing blueberries up in the air and catching them in his mouth. Danny wasn’t there either. Usually he’d be waiting in one of the chairs after taking the latter part of the night watch shift, ready to hand the baton over. She wasn’t sure what to do. Maybe they’d both just changed their plans… Bobby could still be in bed and Danny could’ve been too exhausted to wait up and gone straight to bed. No, surely not. Not both in one day, Amelia thought. She didn’t know who to wake. When Amelia had a routine, she liked to stick to it. She decided to wake up Vicky. Amelia was soon knocking on her door. She had to be courteous – maybe Vicky had convinced Bobby to stay in bed a little longer. “What?!” Vicky exclaimed, not happy that she’d been woken up. Amelia rolled her eyes, opened the door and walked in. The first thing she noticed was the lack of another person beside the brunette. “Something missing?” She asked, raising her eyebrows and looking towards the empty side of the bed. Vicky rolled over and sighed. “He’s probably out picking fruit again.” “Trust me, he’s not. Get some clothes on and find Jackie.” Amelia ordered. “Danny’s missing too.” Charlotte was next on her list. “Charlotte?” She rose her voice, knocking on the Harris duo’s bedroom door. “Come in, we’re awake.” Charlotte could be heard from inside. Amelia pushed the door open yet remained in the hallway. The older woman was already sitting on the end of her bed, zipping up her boots. Ava laid with her eyes open but was still snuggled underneath her bedsheet. “What’s up?” Charlotte asked. “Have you seen Bobby or Danny?” Amelia asked. “Not since last night. Are they not here?” The woman reached underneath her pillow and grabbed the pistol, watching Ava to make sure that she didn’t take it from her. Ava rolled her eyes. “No, they’re not.” Amelia confirmed. “Jackie’s not here, either!” Vicky shouted from down the corridor. She walked along to the next room and kicked the door in. In the bedroom, Zach laid on the bed, Ellie gone. He was definitely deteriorating. Vicky watched as he spasmed in the bed. She quickly closed the door, fearing the disease was airborne. “Ellie’s gone, too!” Charlotte stood up and walked towards Amelia. She placed her lips by the blonde’s ear, not wanting her niece to be scared by what she was about to say. “This wasn’t Dallas’ group, was it? I mean, they could’ve followed us back here and taken them.” “Dallas’ group? If it was them, they’ve would’ve left the others and taken us – the women and children.” Amelia denied. “Besides, I know where they’ve gone.” She looked at Vicky. Vicky nodded, knowing what Amelia meant. Bobby was her boyfriend, although it wasn’t official, and she knew what he was like. “I’m thirsty…” Ava moaned, changing the subject and appearing beside Charlotte. “We’ve got no water.” Charlotte snapped. She was still sore over the gun situation involving Ava and Ellie. “You know that the water pumping situation is clogged.” Amelia turned away and began to walk off. “Hey, where are you going?!” Vicky shouted. “I’m going to find Bobby. He can’t just do this without telling me!” Amelia replied. Vicky caught up with her and grabbed her arm, turning her round. “I’m coming with you.” Amelia looked over her shoulder to Charlotte and Ava, “What about you two? Are you coming?” “Going where? No-one’s bothered to explain it to me.” Charlotte said, frustrated. “Remember that car we found in the garage? The one you hot-wired to start?” Amelia turned to Vicky. “We can take that. I drove it when we last went out looking for a car – the day that Jack bit the dust.” The brunette replied. “I guess I can go and retrieve it. It’ll only take fifteen minutes to walk from here to the multi-storey park where we left it.” “It’s our only option so we’ve got to take it. You better get going.” Amelia instructed. Normally, Vicky would’ve made a snappy comment about how she didn’t like being bossed about, but that wasn’t the time. She quickly left. “I’ll explain to you, Charlotte, on the way. That is, unless you two want to stay with the disease-ridden Zach - the man who could turn into an infected at any point.” ______________________________________________________________________________ “We’re nearly there.” Ellie smiled. She held her finger at their current location on the map. The truck was still speeding down the highway, however, a small city could be seen on the horizon. “Don’t get too excited.” Jackie told her, voice raspy from the lack of water. “You don’t even know if there’s going to be anything useful there. The building could’ve collapsed or all of the books could have rotted away.” They continued on until, mere yards from the city, the truck rolled to a stop. Jackie reached forwards and tapped the fuel indicator. The truck was out of gas. “What are you doing? We’ve got a few minutes left of driving left.” Ellie questioned. “Yeah, what’s going on?” Danny wondered, pocking his head through their seats. ”We’re out of gas.” Jackie revealed. “Looks like we’re going to have to walk the rest of the way.” Bobby said, already opening the truck’s back doors to exit. Ellie climbed out next, eager to get there, find the book and get back to her husband. Danny and Jackie followed suit. Ellie lead the way with the map held out in front of her. The three others were not close behind. Every so often, one of them would do a full three-sixty spin to make sure that the coast was clear. It was silent as they drew closer to the city. Ellie let herself get engulfed in the map, not noticing the infected creeping up on her from directly in front. ‘Watch out, Ellie!’ Bobby was about to shout when the blonde snapped back to reality and started her attack. She threw the map to the side and sent an enclosed fist crashing towards the infected’s face. The infected’s skull was weak and the power in her fist was enough to break it. Weak, decayed infected skulls were one of the few perks of living over a decade into the apocalypse. The infected flew backwards and landed with it’s back against the floor. It was still not dead. “Screwdriver, quick!” Ellie demanded. Jackie reached into her pocket and quickly through it across to her. Ellie tried to catch it with one hand but missed. It landed, bouncing across before eventually falling down and rolling to a halt. She leaped across the tarmac and grabbed the tool, soon sending it into the monster’s brain. For the second time that day, Bobby offered her a hand and she used it to pull herself up. “Almost though you didn’t notice the infected there.” Bobby admitted. She shrugged and walked over the road to retrieve the map. Ellie shook off the dirt before holding it up and taking another look. After a few seconds, she turned the map upside down. “Come on.” She commanded. They had reached the city. It had been taken back by nature. Knee-length grass pushed up through hundreds of cracks in the road. Vines covered whole store fronts. The city looked larger than before. They’d walked directly into a shopping district. Several stores lined the main road with cars dotted here and there. Each building was at least four floors tall and nearly every window was either boarded up or smashed. There were infected, too, but they weren’t causing much of a nuisance so the group left them to groan to themselves. The four walked in the middle of the road, huddled together for two reasons – safety and warmth. The Georgian winter had been especially harsh that year. A shiver tip-toed up Jackie’s spine. It wasn’t silent. Just quiet. The only sounds were the brushing of grass against clothes as the group passed through, and the dragging noise of the limping infected’s feet. “Where’s this library?” Danny asked. “This place is creepy.” “Not far.” Ellie snapped. She stopped at a T-junction of roads. Behind them was an alleyway, also. “Washington Drive, Magnolia Promenade and Birch View.” Bobby read the road sings aloud. “Washington Drive, that’s what we want!” Ellie exclaimed. “We’re only a block away from the library.” ______________________________________________________________________________ After what seemed like forever, Vicky had returned and they had set off. Amelia drove, doing her best to try and recall the map that Ellie had briefly shown her, Vicky sat in the passenger seat, Charlotte and Ava sat in the back. “Are you sure it was the best idea?” Vicky turned to look behind her, addressing Charlotte. “Bringing Ava, I mean.” “I can’t leave her with Zach. Even I wouldn’t feel safe being there alone.” Charlotte explained, looking over to Ava. The young, dark-skinned girl sat on her knees, facing away from her Auntie. She stared out of the window, watching as the trees and deserted cars flew by. “I’m not deaf or stupid, you know?” Ava whined. “I can hear when you’re talking about me ''and I understand what you’re saying. I’m, like, nine now, not two.” Vicky laughed, falling back to resting position in her seat. “Sit down, now.” Charlotte instructed. “And put your belt on.” “There’s no point. We’ll be stopping just up here.” Amelia broke her silence for the first time in the whole car journey. Up ahead, she could see the truck. The truck that they had brought back from the car run that Vicky had previously mentioned. The truck that the other four had ditched on the side of the road earlier that morning. Their vehicle rolled to a stop. Amelia stepped out first and walked quickly across the highway. There were three infected banging on the side of the vehicle, inspecting the strange new addition to their usual view. Vicky appeared beside her. “Shit.” Amelia cursed, fearing the worse. She walked towards the back of the truck and looked in the open doors. No-one. Nothing. “Where the hell are they? This was such an act of foolishness. They could all be dead by now.” “Calm down…” Vicky appeared beside her. Charlotte and Ava had remained in the car. “Look, there’s no blood. None of these infected used to be Bobby, or anyone for that matter. They must’ve just got out of the car and walked. That makes sense right?” Amelia nodded. “That truck is loud. Maybe they thought it’d attract too many infected. Or maybe they were ambushed by a herd and had to fight their way out.” Vicky rolled her eyes. “Let’s just get back in the car. The sooner we get there, the sooner you’ll know that you’re brothers alive. Then, you can shout at him for being a dick.” ______________________________________________________________________________ Bobby, Danny, Ellie and Jackie stood outside of the library. It was huge and it, too, had been taken back by nature. Large concrete columns, three storeys high, had vines wrapped around and around them. Windows that once held glass now consisted of nothing but metal frames and empty spaces. The building was nothing like what it had been, all those years ago. It was hard to imagine people, real people who only worried about silly things like which shirt went with which dress, even setting foot inside. Part of the first floor’s wall had been crashed into by a car. The car remained, half-inside the building, with its windscreen shattered by falling debris. There were books spread across the whole of the public space in front of the building. Torn sheets, consisting of work ranging from Shakespeare to John Green, floated around in the cool breeze. Ellie bent down to inspect the books on the pavement. Jackie grabbed a sheet of paper and inspected it. “‘How to play the cello for dummies?’” Jackie laughed. “What the hell is a cello?” Danny turned on the spot a few times and made sure he had a feel for the area. There were two escape routes if they got in trouble – three at a push. One through the commercial district where they’d entered, one consisting of another road that led deeper into the city and, if it came to that, the four of them could use an alleyway beside the library to escape. There were a dozen or so infected loitered around, not an immediate problem. But, cities used to hold hundreds of people and that meant there’d be hundreds of infected. They had to stay alert. “Anything useful?” Bobby asked Ellie. “No, I think these books are all works of fiction.” She told him. “Let’s make our way inside.” Just like before, Ellie led the way. They entered through the main doors of the library, both were swung open to the side. The reception area would’ve been nice. There was a large circular reception desk in the centre, surrounded by plush red arm chairs. The body of a deceased women still sat upright in the main office, presumably untouched since the beginning. Behind that, the room opened up. It was extremely large. Rows upon rows of books from the floor to the ceiling. The ceiling was two storeys high and there was a balcony were the first storey ended. It looked very traditional. Wooden bookshelves, wooden railings, wooden floorboards. “Okay, let’s make a plan.” Bobby spoke up. “Ellie and I will go and look for healthcare books. Jackie, you and Danny go and find plumbing books or something to help us fix that water pipe at the school. God knows we’re all so thirsty.” “You got it, boss.” Jackie understood. She turned around and examined a large board that had been nailed to the wall. It was a map of sorts that showed the sections of the library and which books were where. “Come on, Danny. Follow me.” They left, walking up a flight of stairs to the second floor balcony and leaving Bobby and Ellie to examine the board alone. Soon enough, they found the health care section of the library and were off. Twelves rows along, three bookcases down. Bobby slowly crept between the rows of bookcases, a few steps in front of Ellie. “This isn’t right.” He told her. “Where are all they infected? This place should be filled with ‘em.” “Just be glad that they’re not here.” Ellie said, marching past Bobby. She didn’t care about being quiet. No-one knew how fast Zach was deteriorating. There was no time for creeping. I took little time to locate the section that they needed. Ellie looked up at the hundreds of books that they soon had to sort through. She gulped. Rows upon rows of dusty, moss covered books looked down at her. The blonde pulled out the first book – Heath Care USA by Harry Sultz. That was definitely not what she needed. She returned the book to the shelf and pulled out another. “I’ll keep a look out.” Bobby announced. Ellie sighed, frustrated. “I get it, you’re scared. You’re trying to hide it by being manly and keeping a look out. But the best thing to do is help me sort through these books. The quicker we do so, the quicker we can get back. Okay?” “Okay.” He agreed. “For the record, I’m not scared.” Fifteen minutes later, the pair were still no closer to finding the right book. Bobby had found a rather large step ladder that allowed them to search through the books that would usually be out of reach. Having ignored the ‘librarian only’ sign, he stood at the top of the stepladder looking through a rather dusty book. Below him, Ellie threw a book onto the floor and let out a frustrated grunt. They must’ve looked through at least seventy-five books each and they were still no closer to finding what they wanted. “Hey, Ellie.” Bobby softly called her, making his way back down the stepladder. “You knew that this was a long shot. Making medicines purely out of herbs and spices was something they did in the middle ages, not in the twenty-first century when they had all those different chemicals.” “You’re right, Bobby!” Ellie suddenly seemed excited. Bobby pulled a puzzled frown. “We shouldn’t be looking in the health care section. We should be looking in the history section! It’s bound to have books on how they treated things like the flu, back when they didn’t have all the science-y stuff.” Suddenly, the sound of a scream filled the air. It was Jackie, there was no doubt about it. It was followed by a shout of her name from Danny. ______________________________________________________________________________ Minutes earlier, Danny and Jackie loitered around the mechanics section of the library. They had found the book that they needed within minutes of searching and were just waiting for the call to vacate the building. The pair were relaxing in two of the plush armchairs that were once used for reading. “We really should meet back up with the others.” Jackie admitted. “And get out these comfy chairs?” Danny replied. “No, thank you.” The young man sighed and sunk further into the chair, leaning his head to the side. Something caught his eye. Across the balcony, through the rows of book shelves, he saw a sign with a rather promiscuous symbol on it. ‘Over twenty-ones only,’ it read. Danny stood up from his chair and began to walk towards it. He was twenty-one, right? Probably. No-one really knew hold they were anymore. “Where are you going?” Jackie exclaimed. “To find a book for Ava!” Danny fibbed. “You stay there and read through that plumbing book or something. I won’t go too far.” She rolled her eyes, thinking nothing of him wandering off. He reached the sign to realise that it pointed into a closed door. Danny reached forwards and tried the handle – it was locked. He scoffed. Just my luck, he through. Bringing his knee up, he slammed his foot into the door twice in an attempt to break the lock. “Everything okay?” Jackie shouted. “Yeah, it’s fine!” Danny called back, sending his foot crashing into the door for the third time. The lock finally broke and door swung backwards. His eyes widened. Unfortunately for him, they didn’t widen in arousal after seeing the ‘naughty’ section of books. They widened in fear. Inside the room were infected. Lots of them. At least a dozen, maybe more. Probably more. “Jackie!” He shouted. Her ears perked up, sensing the fear in his voice. She quickly stuffed the book into her bag and ran towards him. Danny jumped inside the room, grabbed the door handle and pulled it back to close the door. Jackie stopped when she noticed both the sign and Danny struggling with the door. “You went looking for porn mags.” She sighed, unimpressed. “Yeah and I found infected!” He shouted, annoyed at her for not helping him. “Help me!” “What the hell am I supposed to do?” Jackie shouted back. “The door opens inwards! You want some help holding that door handle?” Danny could feel the infected pressing against the door. All of a sudden, a crack appeared down the middle of the door. The rotting wood had begun to give way under the force of a dozen infected. A chunk of the door snapped off and ricocheted towards Jackie. She let out a scream as the wood hit her face, causing a deep gash. “Jackie!” The male called, instantly feeling guilty. He mentally counted to three before letting go of the door and running towards the blonde. Danny grabbed her and the two began run through the aisles of bookshelves. It took less than five seconds for the infected to break down the door and set off after them. The bookshelves seemed to narrow as the duo got further away, causing them to split. The infected were hot on their heels, bumping into the shelves and sending books flying. The bookshelves began to collapse inwards as the undead knocked them. The two met up again as they made their descent on the staircase. Bobby was already waiting for them at the bottom. “What the hell is going on?” Bobby asked with wild, worried eyes. “Infected.” Jackie revealed. “Someone must’ve trapped them all in one room because, as soon as Danny opened the door, there was suddenly a shit ton of undead upon us.” The infected had made their way to the top of the stairs. The first one’s ankle gave way, sending it tumbling down the stairs. It’s body hit Jackie on the back but, luckily, there was no bite. “Let’s move!” Bobby shouted. The three began to sprint off, leaving the tumbling group of infected behind. “Where’s Ellie?” Danny asked as they ran. “We need to get out of here now!” They found her standing in one of the aisles, smiling as she flicked through an old, dusty book. She looked up at the trio, immediately knowing what their worried faces meant. Ellie threw the book to Jackie and she placed it in her bag, alongside the plumbing book. “Do not lose that.” Ellie ordered. The four sprinted off. Bobby led the way, followed closely by Jackie and Ellie with Danny at the back. Knowing that it was closer than the actual exit, Bobby led the others towards the whole in the wall where the car had crashed through. As they ran, the man saw the blue sedan through the gaps in the rows of books. When he got to the end of the aisle, he stopped suddenly. Jackie reacted too slowly and slammed into him. Infected were climbing through the whole in the wall and had already spotted the group. There were a lot more than what had been outside earlier. They stumbled towards the men and women, heels dragging and jaws dribbling in anticipation. Quickly, the survivors turned and began to ran back the way they came but found that the infected from upstairs were already upon them. There was no way out. They had to stay and fight. Navigation Category:Surviving, Not Living Category:Surviving, Not Living Issues Category:Issues